New Album Release Round-Up: January 2026

The old No Ripcord website had a section called Quick Takes. As the name suggests, these were short capsule reviews, which provided us with an opportunity to share our impressions on a wider range of records. Not everything requires a 1,000-word deep-dive, after all. These were a blast to write and pragmatically made a lot of sense—so we’re bringing them back, starting this month.

This will be a recurring feature, so watch out for a batch of quick takes towards the end of each calendar month.

Jenny On Holiday
Quicksand Heart
(Transgressive)

As one half of acclaimed Norwich duo Let’s Eat Grandma, Jenny Hollingworth has been making smart experimental pop music for a decade. Her solo debut, Quicksand Heart, feels more like a steady progression than a revolutionary rebrand, with the accomplished songwriting impressing more than any sonic wizardry. More familiar elements (synth-pop, hyper-pop) jostle for position with new flirtations (shoegaze anyone?), but predominantly Quicksand Heart feels like a cohesive collection of decent mid-tempo pop-rock tunes. – David Coleman

Hot Face
Automated Response
(Speedy Wunderground)

London garage punk trio Hot Face and their Speedy Wunderground label boss and producer du jour Dan Carey settled upon a fascinating idea for the band’s debut, Automated Response: record the whole thing live. Over the course of an EP, it would have been a fun little experiment, but after ten tracks of murky guitars and cardboard-box drums, I found myself feeling increasingly frustrated with a production choice that felt less punk, more gimmicky. The band’s performance is tight, and the songwriting is fairly solid, but Automated Response is fatally compromised by its soupy sonics. – David Coleman

Westside Cowboy
So Much Country ‘Till We Get There
(Adventure)

Buzzy Manchester four-piece Westside Cowboy seem like they’re being fast-tracked straight to the top. They’ve described their sound as ‘Britainicana’ and while I don’t love the term, I can see what they’re getting at. Listening to their accomplished new EP, So Much Country ‘Till We Get There, I’m reminded of both Big Thief’s earlier work and Friko’s wonderful Where We've Been, Where We Go from Here. Opener “Strange Taxidermy” eerily evokes Neil Young’s “After The Gold Rush,” while “In The Morning” closes out the five-track affair with a wholesome campfire singalong. Island imprint Adventure Recordings appears to be giving Westside Cowboy a hefty push, and the early signs are that they have the chops to make the most of it. – David Coleman

Home Star
A Binding Life
(Born Losers)

Thirty seconds into the solo debut from Marietta’s Evan Lescallette, I was bracing myself for a minor power pop masterpiece. Although A Binding Life sees Lescallette ploughing a similar furrow to Marquette’s Liquid Mike, the Philadelphia-based singer/guitarist serves up more guitar heroics, making this record more evocative of Weezer than, say, Everclear. That’s all well and good, but the record’s lack of variety means the crunching riffs and emo-adjacent hooks start to wear thin before its 48-minute run time is over. – David Coleman

Craven Faults
Sidings
(The Leaf Label)

Elusive electronic producer Craven Faults describes his sound as “Half-remembered journeys across post-industrial Yorkshire.” As someone who spends two hours a day traversing post-industrial Yorkshire for work, Sidings is an album I can very much appreciate. Foreboding bass and glacial synths dominate. If Sidings feels like a journey, it’s surely one over Northern England’s uncompromising terrain. I’m reminded of Steve Reich at times; nothing on Sidings sounds quite like his Different Trains project, but there is undoubtedly a shared spirit. I find myself increasingly drawn to both instrumental works and music that rewards patience and active listening. Sidings is a bleak delight. – David Coleman

The Cribs
Selling A Vibe
(PIAS)

It shouldn’t be hard for the Cribs to sell their vibe to someone who lived through the post-punk revival during the early 2000s. Their agreeable indie rock very much aligns with my taste, especially when they brought Johnny Marr on board for 2009’s Ignore the Ignorant. Since then, the Jarman brothers haven't changed all that much, as you can hear their tasteful jangly guitars (“Never the Same”) and fuzzy Strat tones (“If Our Paths Never Crossed”). Where their songs backfire to a degree comes from bringing in ex-Chairlift member Patrick Wimberly for production duties, who provides an unspoiled sheen better suited to his high-profile clients. It’s commendable that the brothers continue to push themselves when most of their contemporaries have thrown in the towel. Still, they're truly at their best when their tuneful choruses come paired with a raw, stripped-down treatment. – Juan Edgardo Rodríguez

Sunday Mourners
A-Rhythm Absolute
(Curation Records, Inc.)

Los Angeles-based Sunday Mourners’ swaggering debut sounds so fully formed, you’d be tricked into thinking it’s their third or fourth go at it. Led by Quinn A. Robinson’s deadpan sing-speak, the quartet invokes the garage rock stylings of The Velvet Underground (“Darling”) and Richard Hell (“When Dreams Come True”) with a similar spunk akin to Parquet Courts when they got their start. Their influences are so impeccably emulated, you wish they’d inject some of their personality into the mix. But when they’re delivered with this much confidence, like on the propulsive “Biograph,” you’re right to wonder if that even matters. – Juan Edgardo Rodríguez

Megadeth
Megadeth
(Megadeth Inc.)

Megadeth's self-titled swan song is weighted down by its own sense of importance. Closing a 40-year-plus arc can certainly redeem anyone, especially the often dismissed Dave Mustaine, but Megadeth is a sobering reminder of the band's dwindling creativity in recent years. If you seek technical prowess, then tracks like “Tipping Point” and “Puppet Parade” offer passionate and vitriolic energy. They’re satisfying enough to excuse Mustaine's knuckleheaded ways, which range from dystopian paranoia (“Obey to Call”) to inflated pomposity (“Let There Be Shred”). And while he ends “The Last Note” with a moody and sincere farewell, Mustaine immediately walks it back with his version of Metallica’s classic “Ride the Lightning.” Having co-written it with the band before they unceremoniously kicked him out, the bonus track is as petty as it gets. A fitting goodbye from the master of thrash. – Juan Edgardo Rodríguez